George steck



(No ModeL) F| la. fl

2 Sheets-Sheet 1. G. STECK. l

PIANO.

Patented Slept. 16, 1890.

j rI-m .fr-lm [LM] l l SNQQQ L L L LGO-0G09@ WITN E55 E5 INVENTR qu JM l; L am?.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. STECK. PIANU.

No. 436,385. Patented Sept. 16, 1890.

5R l A\\`\\ N :j I

WITNESSEE INVENTUR @a-XM tu: Novus Ps1-Ens cu., morro-mno., vusmucn'an u c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

GEORGE STEOK, OF NEI/V YORK, N. Y.

PIANO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 436,385, dated September 16, 1890.

Application filed December 5, 1889. Serial No. 332,671. (No model.) p

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE STECK, of New York city, New York, have invented an Improved Piano, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in stringless pianos, and more particularly to the construction of the springs that are struck by the hammers to produce the sound.

The invention consists in the various fea tures of improvement more fully pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a horizontal section on line azac, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on line y y, Fig. l; and Fig. 3, a perspective view of one of the springs.

The letter a represents a piano-case containing a suitable action, of which b is the key, c the hammer, and d the damper.

e is a metallic rail,` to which the sound-producing springs are connected. These springs are composed of two different layers of metal soldered upon one another. The upper strip orlayerfof the springis made ofa steel springplate, while the lower strip g is preferably made of brass. The lower layer is flush, substantially, at its forward end with the upper layer, but at the rear end the upper layer projects a considerable distance beyond the lower layer. Thus while the lower layer is supported bodily upon the rail e from end to end the upper layer projects back of the rail to a distance sufficient to insure the proper vibration of the spring, and sufficient, of course, to come into contact with the hammer.

I have found thatby the use of two different layersof metalof different lengths and secured to a metallic rail I obtain a rich pure note and a spring that will not ring after being struck. Y

In lieu of the lower brass layer g, I mayper haps use another metal; but I have found the results produced by brass to be very satisfactory.

Both the layers f g are perforated for the passage of screws h, by which the springs are secured to the rail e.

In order to produce the proper notes, the length of the upper layers f vary, the layer being longest at the deepest note and decreasing regularly up to the h ighest note. Moreover, the layers f for the deep notes should be made widest and for the very high notes they may be pointed, as shown. The intermediate notes should be of medium width and need not be pointed. For the bass notes I furthermore prefer to use an additional layer 'L' on top of layer f and of the same size as the bottom layer g, Fig. 2. This top layer e' is likewise soldered to the layer f, and should be of the same metal as the bottom layer. The bass springs may also have the layers g c' somewhat longer than the remaining springs, and may be fastened down by three screws h, as shown.

1. In str-inglese pianos, a sound-producing spring consisting of a longer steel plate and of a shorter plate of another metal soldered thereto, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of metal rail c with a lower layer g, and with an upper spring-plate f soldered thereto, the layer g being supported upon rail e, and the springplate f projecting rearwardly therefrom, substantially as specified.

3. The combination of a spring-steel plate f with a lower shorter layer g, and an upper shorter layer 1l soldered thereto, substantially as specified.

GEORGE STECK. Witnesses:

A. JoNGHMANs, F. v. BRIESEN. 

